John 11

The Death of Lazarus

1 # Mk 11.1; Lk 10.38 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2#Mk 14.3; Lk 7.38; Jn 12.3Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus,#11.3 Gk him “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4#v 40; Jn 9.3But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6after having heard that Lazarus#11.6 Gk he was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

7 # Jn 10.40 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8#Jn 10.31The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble because they see the light of this world. 10But those who walk at night stumble because the light is not in them.” 11After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” 12The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.”#11.12 Or will be saved 13Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16Thomas, who was called the Twin,#11.16 Gk Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus#11.17 Gk he had already been in the tomb four days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19#Job 2.11and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22#Jn 9.31But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24#Dan 12.2; Jn 5.28, 29; Acts 24.15Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25#Jn 1.4; 3.36; 5.26; 14.6Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.#11.25 Other ancient authorities lack and the life Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27#Mt 16.16; Jn 6.14She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,#11.27 Or the Christ the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

28When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come to the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32#v 21When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35#Lk 19.41Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37#Jn 9.6, 7But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

38 # v 33 ; Mt 27.60; Mk 15.46; Lk 24.2; Jn 20.1Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39#v 17Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40#v 23Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41#Mt 11.25; Jn 17.1So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42#Jn 3.17; 12.30I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44#Jn 19.40; 20.7The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

45 # v 19 ; Jn 2.23Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47#v 57; Mt 26.3So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. 48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place#11.48 Or our temple; Gk our place and our nation.” 49#Mt 26.3; Jn 18.13, 14But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50#v 21You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” 51He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, 52and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 53#Mt 26.4So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

54 # 2 Chr 13.19; Jn 7.1 Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness, and he remained there with the disciples.

55 # Num 9.10; 2 Chr 30.17, 18; Mt 26.1, 2; Mk 14.1; Lk 22.1; Jn 12.1 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?” 57Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus#11.57 Gk he was should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

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